Mime Therapy With and Without Neural Mobilization in Bell's Palsy.

Effects of Mime Therapy With and Without Neural Mobilization on Facial Symmetry, Synkinesis and Functional Abilities in Patients With Bell's Palsy.

To determine the Effects of Mime Therapy with and without Neural Mobilization on Facial symmetry, Synkinesis and Functional abilities in Patients with Bell's Palsy.

It has been proven that Mime therapy is effective on activating muscles through articulation exercises, facial expression exercises, breathing exercises and facial massages which can alleviate synkinesis, enhance facial symmetry and promote facial functional abilities. On the other hand, facial neural mobilization has recently reported as a safe and effective adjunctive therapy for patients with Bell's palsy due to the facilitation of nerve gliding in the canal impacts by reducing nerve adherence dispersion of noxious inflammatory agents and increasing neural blood supply. So, by incorporating the Neural mobilization with Mime therapy, therapist may enhance overall facial symmetry, reduce the strain on the facial muscles and alleviate synkinesis. So, it may prove to be an upgraded treatment option for clinicians.

A randomized controlled trail conducted in 2023, to evaluate the effect of facial neural mobilization over conventional therapy in improving facial symmetry in patients with acute Bell's palsy. The intervention included 10 days of drug therapy including 3 weeks of conventional therapy to the experimental and the control group. However, the experimental group received additional nerve mobilization technique aimed at mobilizing the facial nerve at the origin of external auditory meatus. Facial neural mobilization is likely to be an effective adjunctive intervention in addition to conventional therapy in improving facial symmetry in acute Bell's palsy.

Randomized clinical trial in 2021 aims to compare the effectiveness of mime therapy and neuromuscular re-education in improving facial symmetry and function in patients with acute Bell's palsy. Both mime therapy and neuromuscular re-education showed highly significant improvements within each group for both outcomes; they showed no difference between each group for the Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (P=0.212) and Facial Clinimetric Evaluation Scale (P=0.97). Both techniques are equally effective in the recovery of facial symmetry and function in acute Bell's palsy.

Another Author conducted a comparative interventional study in 2020 to compare the effects of Electromyography Biofeedback (EMG BFB) and Mime Therapy on electrophysiological parameters in subjects with Bell's palsy. A group of 31 subjects were selected for the study. Conventional physiotherapy with an EMG BFB and Mime therapy has an equal positive effect on electrophysiological parameters in subjects with Bell's palsy.

Many existing studies highlight the impact of Mime therapy on bell's palsy and related outcomes such as facial symmetry, synkinesis and functional abilities. Also, neural mobilization is reported as a safe and effective adjunctive therapy for patients with Bell's palsy. However, up to the researcher's knowledge, there is no research specifically on combined effects of Mime therapy and neural mobilization in patients with bell's palsy. So, this study aims to bridge this gap by investigating these effects. Moreover, it may help the clinicians to have an upgraded approach to treat these patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

Idiopathic bell's palsy. Age between 20 to 40 years. Both genders Sub-acute Bell's palsy lasting 3-6 months. Unilateral loss of facial weakness Intact taste sensation. House Brackman grade 4 and 5 (moderate to severe Bell's palsy)

Exclusion Criteria:

Facial palsy recurrence. Patients with Diabetes, Hypertension, and any Auto-immune disorder. Chronic bell's palsy patients Patients with upper motor neuron lesions. Other cranial nerves problem. Pregnancy. Dental metal prosthesis. Facial surgery Skin allergy on face. Patients with Ear infection. Patients with Ear implants. Any neuro-degenerative disorder. Patients with Herpes zoster, Otitis media and Ramsay Hunt syndrome